Brighter, cleverer, but more intelligent: understanding periphrasis
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Surrey
Department Name: Languages and Translation Studies
Abstract
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Organisations
Publications
Brown D
(2012)
Defining 'periphrasis': key notions
in Morphology
Brown, Dunstan
(2012)
Canonical Morphology and Syntax
Brown, Dunstan, Carole Tiberius, Marina Chumakina, Greville G. Corbett, Alexander Krasovitsky
(2009)
The Use of Databases in Cross-linguistic Studies
Chumakina M
(2012)
Periphrasis
Chumakina Marina
(2011)
Nominal periphrasis A canonical approach
in STUDIES IN LANGUAGE
Chumakina, M
(2011)
Morphology and Its Interfaces
Chumakina, M
(2009)
Loanwords in the World's Languages: A Comparative Handbook
Chumakina, M
(2008)
Malye jazyki i tradicii: sušcestvovanie na grani
Chumakina, M
(2011)
Tense, Aspect, Modality and Finiteness in East Caucasian Languages,
Chumakina, Marina
(2010)
VIII konferencija Associacii Lingvisticeskoj Tipologii (VIII ALT conference)
| Description | Our project findings are reported according to the research aims. • the nature of the word The notion of the word is central for morphological theory. The project contributes to our understanding of its nature, in particular by investigating the ways periphrasis 'splits' lexemes and the intersecting factors (both morphomic and external) that influence the splits (see Corbett 2013). • interaction between syntax and morphology Periphrasis is simultaneously a morphological and a syntactic notion and this dichotomy is elucidated by the Canonical Typology approach. In Brown, Chumakina, Corbett, Popova and Spencer 2012) we establish morphological and syntactic criteria for defining periphrasis. These criteria were also used for the analysis of the 19 languages in our database (4 case studies plus 15 in the typological sample). In particular, they were employed in the analysis of Archi (Chumakina 2013), one of our case studies, which has a rich inventory of multiword constructions. Our criteria were employed to analyze these multiword constructions, showing that, of all of them, periphrastic constructions allow the highest degree of syntactic freedom. We also established a morphological distinction: only periphrastic constructions correlate with the formation of non-finite predicates. These aspects of behaviour of Archi predicates have not been documented before; they are the result of fieldwork done within the project. Periphrasis interacts in non-trivial ways with the morphological and syntactic systems of the language it is found in. An exciting finding was the behaviour of the negative auxiliary in Nenets: it is sensitive to the conjugation type of the lexical verb. Nenets verbs fall into four inflectional types, only partly determined by the verb semantics, and the behaviour of the negative auxiliary represents an instance where non-functional distinctions play a role in syntax. • the possible sizes and shapes of inflectional paradigms Of the defining criteria for periphrastic constructions one of the least controversial is feature intersection. This requires that a periphrastic expression must fill a cell in an otherwise synthetic paradigm established as the result of the intersection of two morphosyntactic features, such as person and number. The typological investigation of periphrasis showed, however, that the widely known instances of verbal periphrasis very rarely conform to this criterion: expressing a morphosemantic feature, verbal periphrasis creates its own subparadigm (for example, of a particular aspect). An interesting exception is Burushaski, a language isolate of Pakistan, where periphrasis is used to express person-number distinctions which are realised synthetically in other cells of the paradigm. Investigating the typological variation of periphrasis (see research objectives), the most interesting finding concerns periphrasis in nominal systems: starting from Nenets, we confirmed periphrastic case there, then established it in other Samoyedic languages, Enets and Nganasan, also in Romanian, and less canonical instances of it in Armenian (Chumakina 2011). Finally the typological and the diachronic sides of the project converge in the interesting and rare situation in Dalabon, with object agreement on the verb, and its emergence accords with the tendency observed for other languages in the family to have this type of agreement. (Evans 2013). |
| Exploitation Route | Our findings are of importance to both morphologists and syntacticians, and there is already evidence of their being taken into account. |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education |
| Description | Periphrasis is a major challenge for understanding how natural languages function and it is particularly hard to describe in a precise way. One of the project outcomes was a refereed journal article (Brown et al 2012) that employed Canonical Typology (CT) to define periphrasis precisely. CT is a new method for comparing constructions and categories across languages and is a step forward in addressing the issue of data comparability (the Correspondence Problem). The application of CT has allowed us to achieve impact in the description of endangered and less well documented languages to preserve information about linguistic culture for future generations. More specifically, our consultation with Professor Irina Nikolaeva, a specialist on Samoyedic languages, prompted the documentation of two severely endangered languages (Enets and Nganasan) and one less badly endangered: Nenets. The CT method allowed us to formulate questions, relying on the criteria established for canonical periphrasis. This resulted in our obtaining previously unknown data. The CT method has prompted interest from those working in language learning technologies. Following a course given by Corbett at the Linguistic Institute at Boulder, there was interest in Canonical Typology from Rosetta Stone. A presentation on Canonical Typology was given at Rosetta Stone on 9 September 2011, by Danny Hieber (Associate Researcher). In addition to impacts connected directly with the application of the CT method, community development work has also been carried out. Our work on the Nakh-Daghestanian language Archi, an important language for the project, made a significant contribution to the community development. In 2004-2007 the research team had played a major role in the development of a practical orthography for the Archi language, taking account of the relevant theoretical issues, and complying with the needs of the community, who wanted a Cyrillic-based system. In this project our consultants made use of the new practical orthography, and this is an important step towards wider propagation of this writing system within the community as a whole. In addition to the direct benefits derived from applying methods from linguistic typology and theory, the Archi community also benefited from the use of modern technologies. In particular, our consultants learnt how to use word processing software and audio editing software (Sound Forge). |
| Sector | Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
| Title | Periphrasis |
| Description | Key database features • Searches by word class, language, language family, features, auxiliary type • Output with information about ordering of auxiliary and lexeme • Information about other constraints, where applicable • Detailed language report for further information |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2010 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This is one of a set of typological databases, made freely available for on-line searching, at the Surrey Morphology Group site. They are widely used for research purposes, and for project work, as is evidenced by the substantial number of visitors to the site. |
| URL | http://www.smg.surrey.ac.uk/peri/ |
| Description | A realizational approach to the morphology of the Kokota NP. Paper presented at UKARG Workshop, School of Oriental and African Studies. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Discussions ensued |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
| Description | Archi language tutorial. LAGB Annual Meeting, University of Essex. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | increased knowledge of Archi |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Biabsolutives in Archi. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Paper presented at the Conference on Caucasian languages, EVA MPI Leipzig, May 14. Discussion ensued. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Canonical typology: progress and prospects. Paper read at the workshop on Canonical Typology held at the 8th Meeting of the Association of Linguistic Typology, University of Berkeley, USA. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Discussions ensued |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Corbett, GG, Brown, D, Chumakina, M: Prolegomena to a typology of periphrasis', 13th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Led to discussion and further development of the project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
| Description | Greville G. Corbett. Canonical typology. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited course of eight lectures at the 2011 Linguistic Institute "Language in the World", held at the University of Colorado, Boulder. (Including joint lecture with Matthew Baerman 'Where is the information in the word? Stems as inflection'), 7 July - 2 August 2011. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Greville G.Corbett. The world's words. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk at Dorset Cambridge Society |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Greville. G. Corbett. Shapes of lexemes: a typological perspective. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk at the 1st NetWordS Workshop on "Understanding the Architecture of the Mental Lexicon: Integration of Existing Approaches". Discussion ensued. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Morphological defaults and the Kokota noun phrase. Paper presented at the fifteenth Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association Annual Conference (AFLA XV), University of Sydney, Australia. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Discussions ensued |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
| Description | Morphological defaults. Paper presented at the "Perspectives on paradigmatic morphology" MorPa workshop, Université de Toulouse, le Mirail. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Discussions ensued |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
| Description | Morphomic splits. Invited paper read at the workshop 'Perspectives on the Morphome', University of Coimbra, |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Discussions ensued |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Morphosyntactic features: canonical and non-canonical. University of Zagreb. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | RESULTS: The presentation led to useful interaction and refinement of ideas. The canonical approach in typology has led to publications from researchers from a range of other institutions, in addition to those of the Surrey Morphology Group. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| URL | http://www.surrey.ac.uk/englishandlanguages/research/smg/canonicaltypology/bibliography/index.htm |
| Description | Nominal Periphrasis: A Canonical Approach. Paper read at Mediterranean Morphology Meeting 7. University of Cyprus, Nicosia, |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Discussions ensued |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Periphrasis and possible lexemes. Paper presented at the Workshop on the Typology of Periphrasis, University of Surrey, |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Discussions ensued |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Periphrasis and serialization in Archi: a canonical approach. Paper read at the 8th Meeting of the Association of Linguistic Typology, University of Berkeley, USA |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Discussions ensued |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Periphrasis in Archi. Paper presented at the Workshop on the Typology of Periphrasis, University of Surrey, |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Discussions ensued |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Primary and secondary meanings of Daghestanian cases |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop on case elicitation, University of Essex, June 13. Discussion ensued. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Quotatives in Archi. Paper read at the workshop on quotatives held at the 42nd Annual Meeting of Societas Linguistica Europaea, Lisbon, Portugal |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Discussions ensued |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Reporting in Archi. Paper read at the workshop "Reported Speech in East Caucasian", University of Lyon, |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Discussions ensued |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Syntax co-opted by morphology: The periphrasis problem. Invited talk at the Edinburgh Linguistic Circle, University of Edinburgh. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Discussions ensued |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | The lexis-grammar interface: split lexemes and their complexity. Invited paper at the 29th International Conference on Lexis and Grammar, Belgrade, |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Discussions ensued |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Verbal periphrasis in Archi: a canonical approach. Paper read at the Southeast Morphology Meeting at the University of Surrey. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Discussions ensued |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | What the child needs to know about morphosyntactic features: a typologist's perspective. Invited paper at: the Seventeenth Annual MayFest 'Bridging Language Typology and Acquisition', Department of Linguistics, University of Maryland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Discussions ensued |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Words and their complexity. Invited lecture at the Société de Linguistique de Paris, held at the École normale supérieure. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | A talk which sparked questions Discussions ensued |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |